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The American Intelligence Community and Sept. 11. Can We Stop Terrorism?" main page

The American Intelligence Community and Sept. 11. Can We Stop Terrorism?"Aired 12/27/2001

Knowing what a potential enemy is up to‹intelligence‹is often called the first line of defense. But the September 11th attacks exposed an astonishing gap in America’s ability to defend itself. While a war continues, in the spirit of unity and bi-partisanship, the country’s leaders are holding off on Congressional investigations‹for the moment. But soon, the public blame game will commence. Could the attacks have been prevented? Did bureaucratic feuds and turf battles keep the right information from getting to the right people? Did restraints on spying hamper aggressive intelligence gathering? Most important: Can we make sure it doesn’t happen again?
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Richard Gid Powers historian and author of "Secrecy and Power: The Life of J. Edgar Hoover"Dave McCurdy Executive Director of the Internet Security Alliance and former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on IntelligenceDavid Corn Washington editor for The Nation, and author of "Blond Ghost: Ted Shackley and the CIA’s Crusades"

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